Gypsy Rose Blanchard was a victim of abuse via Munchausen by proxy, Munchausen by proxy is a psychological disorder in which an individual repeatedly seeks medical attention for falsified and exaggerated symptoms. In Gypsy Rose Blanchard’s case, her mother inflicted these falsified claims of muscular dystrophy, leukemia, and intellectual disabilities onto Blanchard to garner media attention, money, and sympathy.
One of the conditions that Blanchard’s mother claimed she had was muscular dystrophy – a genetic disease that causes degeneration of skeletal muscles. Blanchard’s mother claimed that this was why she was bound to a wheelchair. Blanchard’s mother used this claim to control Blanchard’s actions by restricting her to a wheelchair and micromanaging every move Blanchard made.
On June 9, 2015, Blanchard’s mom was murdered in her home, and Blanchard was convicted of second-degree murder for her role as an accomplice in the crime.
On July 6, 2015, Gypsy Rose Blanchard set foot into the courtroom for her hearing for her involvement in the case. She was sentenced to 10 years in prison at Chillicothe Missouri Prison, but on Dec. 28, 2023, she was released on parole because she had completed 85% of her full sentence.
When the news that Blanchard was released early, many gathered on the internet to voice their varying opinions. Some agree that her integration back into society is for the better and some disagree stating that she should be back in prison serving her full sentence.
I think that her integrating back into society is for the better. She needs the real-world interaction more than anything after being abused by her mother for such a long period.”
— Vanessa Lee, senior
Just hours after Blanchard was released from prison, she posted a selfie of herself in a mirror on Instagram with the caption “First selfie of freedom!” This photo alone garnered her six million likes, and her follower count skyrocketed to 6.4 million followers overnight and is still growing.
“I think that her heading to social media so early isn’t going to go well,” Lee said.
Yet, with having a platform comes criticism. She was quickly hit with waves of criticism for going on a small press tour promoting her Lifetime series “The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard.” Many believed that it was a quick cash grab and others criticized her usage of social media and her attempt to become an influencer overnight.
“With being on social media does come a lot of negative attention; her comment section is reflective of that,” Lee said.
It’s quite evident that many online users feel the need to voice their opinions straight to Blanchard’s comment section. Typically, these comments are met with a plethora of back-and-forth arguments from one anonymous user to another. A particular instance that led Blanchard to fight back against these comments was when users on social media felt the need to comment on the appearance of her fiancé Ryan Anderson. These comments were attacking his physical appearance and many of these statements flooded Blanchard’s comment section by telling her she could “do better.”
Blanchard struck back by commenting under a post of Anderson cautioning Anderson to not listen to the haters, and that they don’t owe anything to anyone. Many forget that when they comment, it’s not just going towards an endless echo chamber of opinions. It’s going to be read and sent to a real person who has feelings just like them.
Blanchard’s case has been covered multiple times via channels on YouTube and streaming networks capitalizing off her abuse but this year. Blanchard chose to strike back and tell her story in all authenticity. Her story sheds light on victims of abuse all while posing a debate on whether her actions were justified or not.
